


ways you said "i love you"

by gabstar



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Chapters Unrelated, Children, Confessions, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Parent AU, Prompt Fill, each chapter is a new way they say i love you??, something short and silly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-04-30 22:29:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5181989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabstar/pseuds/gabstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>31- in awe, the first time you realized it</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. in awe, the first time you realized it

**Author's Note:**

> thanks heather for the prompt!!

Akaashi stands outside of the testing room, hands furling and unfurling with nervous energy. He shouldn’t be this antsy.  Akaashi does well on tests and he had studied for this one especially hard. But there’s a lot weighing on this one, his dream school, his career-- Akaashi yawns and tears burn at the corners of his eyes. He’d tossed and turned most of the night, worrying.

There’s a small crowd gathered at the door now, but none Akaashi recognizes. They are quiet, all equally tired and eager just to get this over with.

Akaashi jumps at the sound of his name.

“Psst! Akaashi! Over here!”

Bokuto’s peeking out from around the corner of the building, looking at Akaashi with bright eyes. Akaashi feels a wash of comfort.

“What are you doing here?” Akaashi whispers, pulling him further from the door to avoid his peer’s strange gazes.

“Wishing you luck,” Bokuto says, pushing a warm paper mug into his hands. “Here.”

“Coffee?” Akaashi asks, hopeful.

Bokuto nods. “Four cream, six sugar, extra whipped cream. Oh and this.”

Bokuto pulls out a plastic spoon from his pocket. Akaashi recognizes the owl print their favorite cafe, Akaashi’s always adored the little owl faces pressed into the handles. Akaashi takes the cheap plastic spoon reverently.

“A lucky owl,” Bokuto says, a proud smile on his face.

“You remembered,” Akaashi says, feeling strangely light.

“We might not be able to go back for a while, because I tried to grab a handful and got kicked out,” Bokuto says, revealing his stuffed coat pockets. “More owls, more luck, right?”

Akaashi gives a breathy laugh, looking at Bokuto in wonder. “I love you.”

Bokuto’s breath hitches. “What?”

Akaashi’s pink and stuttering. “I--I mean thank you. Thank you, Bokuto-san.”

He hears the click of the test doors opening, the shuffle of coats as students walk inside. What bad timing, he thinks.

“I have to go,” Akaashi says, gripping Bokuto’s sleeve. “Thank you, again.”

“Yeah.” Bokuto looks dazed. “Anytime.”

Akaashi pecks his cheek. “I’ll see you after.”

Bokuto’s still staring at him, lips parted in marvel.

“I love you,” he says back. His words low and deliberate.

Bad timing, bad timing, bad timing, Akaashi thinks as his heart races. How is he supposed to take a test now?

“I love you,” Akaashi gushes, repeating, pulling away.

“I love you!” Bokuto says, louder as Akaashi rushes to the door.

Akaashi’s breathless as he turns back. “I love you.”

“I love you!” Bokuto shouts, confident, beaming.

“I love you,” Akaashi confirms. He’s swept into the testing room with four spoons, three ‘I love yous’,  and one blooming, radiant feeling in his chest.

 

 


	2. to someone else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ways you said i love you 
> 
> 10- to someone else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alsdkjf there wasn't supposed to be second chapter but *shrugs* thanks for the prompt sof!!

Akaashi wakes to a cold bed and a heavy silence.

That in of itself isn’t unusual. Bokuto’s an early riser, something Akaashi’s never been able to understand. What is unusual is that their clock reads 3:14 am and the baby monitor is missing.

Akaashi gets to his feet, pulling on one of Bokuto’s discarded hoodies. “Koutarou?”

The floorboards creak under his feet as he pads over to Kazumi’s room. Bokuto doesn’t look over at him, hunched over her crib with his hair messy, tired blues under his eyes, and the missing baby monitor in hand.

Akaashi wraps his arms around him, pressing his face into Bokuto’s warm back. “Did she wake up?”

“No,” Bokuto says, voice low. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Kazumi squirms at their murmuring, stretching out a small hand. Bokuto reaches and her fists bunches around his finger. She soothes at the contact.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Akaashi repeats.

“Look at her,” Bokuto says. “She’s so little.”

Kazumi breathes a gentle sigh and Akaashi aches to hold her. “I know.”

“I feel like if I leave her alone she’s-- she’s just going to stop breathing or disappear or something terrible will happen,” Bokuto’s voice shakes. “What if something happens to her and I’m not there?”

Akaashi hums, strangling both with relief and guilt that Bokuto’s feelings echos his own. Kazumi’s breathing has steadied, soft and even.

“You’ll be there,” Akaashi promises. “And I’ll be there too.”

Bokuto doesn’t respond, but Akaashi can feel him ease. The tension leaving his body just  
a little under Akaashi’s embrace.

“Would you feel better if she slept in our room tonight?” Akaashi asks, kissing Bokuto’s shoulder blade.

Bokuto nods, easing Kazumi out of her crib and holding her to his chest. She makes an irritated huffing sound at the jostling but sinks into Bokuto’s warmth. Bokuto kisses her forehead lightly.

“I’m here,” he says. “And I love you.”

Akaashi feels swollen and tender as he gives Kazumi his own kiss.

“Me too,” he says. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was sappy please forgive me
> 
> thanks for the kudos and comments i'll reply to you soon!!
> 
> (some say hi to me at cutiekeiji on tumblr)


	3. while laughing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 55- while laughing

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Akaashi’s gaze is steady, firm. Bokuto takes a deep breath to steel his nerves.

“I’m sure.”

Akaashi hands over the fleshy-pink protien shake. Bokuto’s already grimacing at the smell. He takes the glass from him and it’s shockingly warm.

“And you’re positive this is what Iwaizumi uses?” Bokuto clarifies.

Akaashi nods. “Every morning.”

“Oh-kay,” Bokuto drags the syllables out, procrastinating. “Here I go.”

“Here you go,” Akaashi seconds, eyes glinting in tease.

Bokuto pinches his nose, downs the whole glass and-- Immediate regret. Bokuto turns and spits it right back out into the garbage can, choking and gasping. It leaves a slick, grimy residue in his mouth.

“Oh god, that’s awful. Not worth it, not worth it,” Bokuto gags, taking a fistfull of paper towels and wiping his entire face with them. He scrapes the leftovers off his tongue.

Akaashi laughs so loudly he snorts. He covers his face to muffle the inelegant giggles spilling from him.

“Ughh, Akaashi,” Bokuto whines. “Did you make it gross on purpose?”

Akaashi shakes his head vigorously. He’s too breathless to respond, his laughter spotted with breathy hiccups.

“That was so bad,” Bokuto repeats, nose still scrunched up. “Stop laughing at me!”

“I--I can’t,” Akaashi wheezes, he’s clinging to the kitchen counter for support. “It was-- just your expression. I’m-- I’m sorry, Bokuto-san.”

He’s doubled over, face pink and eyes shining. There’s nothing graceful about his loud, unpracticed laughter. Bokuto feels himself being reeled into laughing too.

“Akaashi,” he whines through his giggling. “Akaashi, stop.”

“I love you,” Akaashi wheezes. “I love you.”

Bokuto reddens. “That doesn’t make it better!”

Akaashi’s still giggling as he presses his lips to Bokuto’s cheek. “Better?”

Bokuto considers. “Again!”

Akaashi rolls his eyes but complies, kissing Bokuto’s other cheek.

“Again!”

Akaashi’s face scrunches up in amusement as he kisses Bokuto’s chin. Again. Forehead. Again. Nose. Again. Eyelids. Again. Earlobe.

“Again?” It doesn’t even sound like a word anymore and Bokuto can’t tell if it’s because of the repetition or the fact that he’s whoozy under all of Akaashi’s adoration.

“Really, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asks, though he’s still smiling. “How many times do I have to kiss you before you forgive me?”

Bokuto leans down to meet his lips and murmurs, “Perhaps just once more.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was so self-indulgent forgive me
> 
> send me more ways to say i love you at cutiekeiji if you want!!


	4. teasingly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively: "you love me"

By the sixth disapproved apartment, Akaashi has this low, sick feeling in his chest. He’s silent on the taxi ride back to Bokuto’s parents’ house, arms folded across his chest. 

Bokuto looks at him like he’s worried. Bokuto bunches his hands into fists. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Bokuto asks quietly. 

Akaashi sighs. “I just... I don’t understand why you keep rejecting all these apartments, Bokuto-san.” 

Akaashi counts off on his fingers. “Too many windows, you think there might be a ghost, the closet’s too small, you want to be able to paint the walls, the shower smells weird-- I mean, it’s like--” Akaashi’s voice fails him, cracking and breaking into a small, strained whisper. “It’s like.. It’s like you don’t _want_ to  move in with me.” 

“Akaashi, no!” Bokuto takes Akaashi’s counting fingers and kisses them. “No, no, no that’s not it, I promise.” 

“Then what is it?” Akaashi asks.

“It’s.... it’s our first home,” Bokuto says. “I want it to be absolutely perfect.” 

Akaashi releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Well you can’t expect it to be perfect, Bokuto-san.” 

Bokuto shrugs, lacing their fingers properly. “I guess I’ve been spoiled, having the perfect boyfriend.” 

Akaashi’s face is hot with blush. “Embarrassing.” 

“You love me,” Bokuto teases, leaning close to press kisses to Akaashi’s cheek. “You want to _kiss_ me, you want to share a _home_ with me--” 

“I can still change my mind,” Akaashi grumbles. 

“You won’t though,” Bokuto says, catching the corner of Akaashi’s mouth. 

Akaashi takes Bokuto’s lips in full, and knows that he absolutely won’t. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've lost all control of my life, this was supposed to be three sentences for a prompt rip me
> 
> say hi to me at cutiekeiji on tumblr!!


	5. to the whole world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ways you said i love you "to the whole world" 
> 
> tumblr prompt: "i don't think i can do this anymore"

Bokuto lasts five days before he caves in. 

“It’s because Akaashi and I are in love, okay?” he blurts out, quite dramatically in the middle of practice. Komi drops his volleyball in shock. Washio gasps and Onaga looks like he’s been punched in the gut. 

“That’s why I suck at volleyball so suddenly. I’m in love and he loves me too,” Bokuto says, pushing the cart of volleyballs away from him, pouting. 

The gaze of the room turns on Akaashi and he pinks. Akaashi clears his throat. 

“That’s a stupid excuse, Bokuto-san,” he says, trying to keep his voice as bored-sounding as he can. He feels like the whole room can hear his heartbeat, feel his heated skin. 

Konoha shoots Sarukui a positively evil grin. “I knew it! Pay up Saru!” 

Sarukui gives him a dirty look. “You said it was because he was getting  _ laid _ , not because he was being gooey with Akaashi--” 

“Same thing--” 

Komi retrieves his volleyball and throws it at Bokuto’s head. “You’re hooking up with Akaashi and you didn’t tell  _ me _ ?!” 

“We weren’t going to tell  _ anyone _ ,” Akaashi says, rubbing his temples. He feels dizzy. “We didn’t want to disrupt the team dynamic.” 

Bokuto gives him a pathetic look and Konoha rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, that was never going to happen Mr. Matching Hickeys,” Konoha says. Akaashi slaps a hand over his bruised neck. “Just let him kiss you so he can win us a match, okay?” 

Akaashi’s tempted to decline just to spite all of them, but his whole body aches with the distance between him and Bokuto. Bokuto’s equally pained expression doesn’t help either. 

Akaashi sighs, wishing he were more annoyed. “Alright.” 

Bokuto’s already beaming as he bounds over and sweeps Akaashi in an embrace. Akaashi feels better when their lips meet, safer and assured. Akaashi burns with the kiss, the embrace, their team cheering behind them. 

Bokuto parts and whispers, “Sorry, I didn’t know if I could do it anymore.” 

Akaashi shrugs, kissing his cheek. “It was bound to happen.” 

Bokuto brightens. “Wait until I tell Kuroo he’s never going to believe--” 

Akaashi decides he doesn’t need to hear the end of that sentence and kisses Bokuto quiet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear to god bokuaka is making me sappier
> 
> i take liberties with prompts but i do take them so i guess that's good??
> 
> say hi to me at cutiekeiji on tumblr!!


	6. while you were weak, and aching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt: chronically ill/fatigued akaashi 
> 
> trigger warning: illness

“Just a little further, Keiji.”

“Kou, I don’t know if–”

“We’re almost there. Just a little further, I promise.”

Akaashi clings to him, his head spinning. He can barely make out the golds and reds of the sunset in his blurred vision. The trees are black against the blazing ending of the day and there’s a salty wash of brine as the sea air breaks over them.

“Keiji, let me–”

This time Akaashi let’s himself be cradled, he doesn’t resist Bokuto’s familiar arms as they wrap around him. He hates how relieved he is to be held, to have most his weight leaned onto Bokuto. How his muscles tremble with fatigue with these last steps even when Akaashi’s inwardly restless. Why had he never appreciated his strength when he had it? All he wants to do is break from Bokuto’s hold and run to the cliffside. He wants to stretch and laugh and be left breathless by the sunset and not the weakness of his body. 

“Look, Keiji.”

Akaashi’s knees shake, but he blinks at the glimmering sea, stained in gold and sinking into the rich colors of the night. He feels a rush of wind blow his curls back and he doesn’t even have the strength to lift his hand and fix them.

“You made it, Keiji,” Bokuto says, painfully light. “See? I knew you could do it.”  

Akaashi doesn’t want to look at the sunset anymore. “I couldn’t have– I wouldn’t– If you hadn’t–”

He can’t make it to the end of his sentence without having to stop for breath. Bokuto hushes him, placing kisses along his brow.

“I know,” Bokuto says.

“I wanted– by myself,” Akaashi stammers.

Bokuto smiles sadly, and kisses him again. “I–I know.” 

Akaashi realizes he’s being ungrateful. Who else would carry him through mountains? Who else would watch him struggle to see a sunset and still smile at the end of it? 

Akaashi wants to hold him back, squeeze his affection into him, tell him he loves him. But he can’t. His sob comes out a wracking cough.

“I know,” Bokuto murmurs. “I love you.”

Akaashi nods, aching in more ways than one. 

“And you love me too,” Bokuto says. “So please–” 

He scoops up Akaashi’s weak, shivering form. 

“Let me carry you home.” 

Akaashi’s eyes flutter shut and drifts off before he remembers to say those three words back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> laughs then cries i haven't written any substantial in months help


	7. through reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> new chapter sent me straight to angst town bc i'm a Dramatic Gay

_ Well that was quick. _

It’s unusual for Bokuto’s dejected modes to come on so suddenly-- they haven’t even finished the first set. But Akaashi knows that crinkled brow and down-turned mouth. He knows what follows after.  

“Are you alright?” Akaashi asks, soft enough so their teammates don’t hear. 

Bokuto doesn’t answer right away. He looks at Akaashi, frowning. 

“I-- I don’t want this to be our last game,” Bokuto says finally. 

Whatever Akaashi was expecting, it wasn’t that. His throat tightens and his belly drops and his hands and fingers go cold. 

“What?” Akaashi says numbly.

“This is it,” Bokuto says. “If we lose it's over. It’ll be our last game.” 

Akaashi tries to shake off his shock. “There will always be more volleyball--” 

“ _ Our _ last game, Akaashi,” Bokuto repeats, his eyes bright and insistent. “Ours, like, you and me.” 

Akaashi isn’t anywhere near ready for this conversation. Especially not here, not in the middle of a match with all these eyes boring down on them. Akaashi takes Bokuto’s hand. 

“Bokuto-san--” he tries again. 

“I don’t want this to be our last.,” Bokuto says, staring at their clasped hands. “I don’t wanna lose.” 

Akaashi swallows. He squeezes Bokuto’s fingers. 

“Then don’t.” 

Bokuto draws himself up to full height. He nods. 

“We won’t lose,” Bokuto says.

Akaashi offers a faint smile. Bokuto captures it in a kiss. 

“We  _ won’t _ lose,” Bokuto says again, this time sounding assured. 

“Yeah,” Akaashi says. “Of course we won’t.” 

Akaashi hopes it’s true. For both of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S NOT READY FOR NEXT WEEK AHAHAHA HA AHA HAHAHAHH AHAHAH
> 
> so i don't really have a good excuse for being so inactive lately other than depression got me bad but the Owls returning to the manga have replenished some life in me and so i'm gonna try to?? post this?? and run??? and hopefully come back???? maybe?? i'm trying guys i swear
> 
> thanks for reading!!! hmu at cutiekeiji on tumblr!!!


End file.
